Iraqi Christians flee homeland even as war fades

[sabra]

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - Bassam Hermiz has slashed prices to clear his stock of electrical appliances, close his shop and join many thousands of other Iraqi Christians abroad.

Once numbering some 750,000 in this mainly Muslim country of 30 million, Christians have been trapped in the crossfire of sectarian strife ignited after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein's secular dictatorship in 2003.

Alarmed that their flock could face extinction, Iraqi Christian leaders appealed to the Vatican for help.

Pope Benedict, also worried about the shrinking Christian presence in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, has called a synod of bishops for October 10-24 to discuss how churches can work together to preserve Christianity's oldest communities.

The special assembly will consider a Vatican document that decries "disregard for international law," human rights abuses and an exodus of Christians fleeing conflict in the Middle East.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69535E20101006